A painful lack of rain and unrelenting heat waves are drying up rivers in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Many are shrinking in length and width. River beds jutting out of the water are a common sight. Some rivers have dried up to the point of being practically impassable.
The man-made climate crisis is causing extreme weather conditions around the world, affecting not only rivers but also the people who depend on them. Most of the people on the planet depend on rivers in some way, be it for drinking water, for irrigating food, for energy or for transporting goods.
See what six of them look like from space.
The Colorado River is drying up on its banks and thinning as a historic western US drought shows little sign of abating. The river is critically maintained by two of the country’s largest reservoirs, and to protect the river basin, the government has introduced mandatory water cuts and asked states to come up with additional action plans. One of these reservoirs, Lake Mead, shrinks as water levels drop toward the “dead pond” — the point at which the reservoir is no longer high enough for water to be released through a dam downstream. Its water level has been declining since 2000, but has fallen more sharply since 2020. The lake has sunk so low over the past year that wild discoveries have been made, including human remains in a barrel – an alleged murder victim from decades ago. And the consequences of the Colorado River crisis are enormous: Around 40 million people in seven states and Mexico depend on the water of the river for drinking water, agriculture and electricity.
The Yangtze River
The Yangtze River in Asia is drying up on its banks and its bed is leaking out in some areas. But it is the tributaries of the Yangtze that have already severely dried up. China has issued a nationwide drought alert for the first time in nine years, and its heatwave is the longest in six decades. The effects of the drying up of the Yangtze are enormous. In Sichuan, a province of 84 million people, hydropower accounts for about 80% of electricity capacity. Much of it comes from the Yangtze River, and as its flow slows, power generation has fallen, prompting authorities there to order all factories there to close for six days. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the province has had about half its usual rainfall and some reservoirs have dried up completely.
The Rhine
The Rhine rises in the Swiss Alps, flows through Germany and the Netherlands, and then flows to the North Sea. It’s a crucial canal for European shipping, but at the moment it’s a nightmare to navigate.
Parts of the riverbed have emerged above the waterline, meaning ships attempting to cross it have to weave around a series of obstacles, slowing down the whole process.
The Rhine passes many different levels along the way, including at Kaub, west of Frankfurt, Germany, where the water level has dropped to as low as 32 centimeters (12.6 inches). Shipping companies generally consider less than 40 cm on the Rhine to be too little, and in Kaub less than 75 cm usually means that a container ship has to reduce its load to around 30%, according to economists at Deutsche Bank. Low water levels also mean that companies pay higher levees to get across, and all of these factors make shipping more expensive, a cost that is usually passed on to consumers.
The river Po
The Po River cuts through the tip of Italy and empties into the Adriatic Sea to the east. Fed by winter snows in the Alps and heavy rains in spring, it has a steep drop that brings a fast current. Typically, devastating floods are more of a problem around this river. But now the butt looks completely different. Northern Italy’s winter was dry, so snow provided little water, and spring and summer were also dry, plunging the region into its worst drought in seven decades. It’s so dried up that a WWII-era bomb was recently found in its dwindling waters.
A major problem is that millions of people depend on the Po for their livelihood, mainly through agriculture. Around 30% of Italy’s food is produced on the Po, and some of the country’s most famous exports, such as Parmesan cheese, are made here.
The Loire
The Loire in France sustains a valley of vineyards that produce some of the world’s most celebrated wines. The river stretches for around 600 miles and is considered France’s last wild river, supporting diverse ecosystems throughout the valley, much of which is protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Parts of the river are already fairly shallow, but its level and flow can change rapidly with the weather and snowmelt at its source. Some sections have dried out enough for people to cross on foot due to the lack of rain and the extreme heat.
Satellite images from the French city of Saumur show more river bed than exposed water in the Loire. The patches of land around it in the valley are mostly brown and parched – a year ago they were lush and green. Authorities divert water from dams into the river, primarily to ensure there is enough water to cool four nuclear power plants located along the river.
The Danube
The Danube is Western Europe’s longest river and an important shipping canal crossing 10 countries. In Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, workers are dredging the river just to ensure ships can still navigate it.
It’s not in as bad shape as some other rivers in Europe, but countries like Hungary are so dependent on the Danube for tourism that the effects are already being felt. Some cruise ships could not pass parts of the river to even reach Hungary. Those still driving cannot stop on their normal routes because so many stations have had to close as water levels on the riverbanks drop. According to the country’s tourism association, an average 1,600-ton ship can only sail on the Hungarian route without a load.
CNN’s Julia Buckley, Laura He, Angela Fritz and Rachel Ramirez, and journalist Barbie Nadeau contributed to this report.